Solids contact tanks, ducts, and controls for same



Oct. 9, 1951 F. D. PRAGER ETAL SOLIDS CONTACT TANKS, DUCTS, AND CONTROLS FOR SAME 2 Sheet s-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 27, 1950 Prayer We/fer. .EY FJ). Pv-ng-r, A 4' Oct. 9, 1951 F. D. PRAGER EI'AL 2,570,590

SOLIDS CONTACT TANKS, DUCTS, AND CONTROLS FOR SAME Filed Jan. 27, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fwd/2% 9 Prayer Patented Oct. 9, 1951 ATENT OFFICE SOLIDS CONTACT TANKS, DUCTS, AND CONTROLS FOR SAME Frank D. Pragen Chicago, 111., and Roy Welter, St. ,Louis,'Mo..

Application January 27, 1950, SerialNo. 140,804

8 Claims.

Our invention relates to liquid treatment as applied forinstance-in water softening and purification plants. It is based on a new form-of what'is knownas the solids contact principle, sludge blanket treatment, slurry-treatment, sludge filtration, "and upflow clarification. -We provide an improved process and apparatus or such treatment; mainly for treatment plants of the municipal type which have basins ofconcrete, -coveringconsiderable area and being relatively shallow.

Such relatively shallow basins are'often called horizontal tanks,'while' these-called upflow clarifiers aresometimes considered as predominantly vertical. The real or apparent distinction between horizontal and vertical tanks is eliminated 'by our design. 'I'he'basins are generally horizontal; the sludge blanket is positively distributed in generally horizontal directions and the 'flowofwater being treated is generally upward. In our horizontal basins We may utilize the-well known rectangular tank design, or practically any other tank "design suitable -for the location of an individual plant.

We facilitate economy in tank-construction and in the maintenance of anefiicientplant by concentrating all themoving equipment required for thes'l-uriy treatment in a suitable building. Plain tanks'o f concrete, without moving equipment'thereinpare wellknown. Likewisesolids contact processes are well known. However, little ifanything has been done in the past to combine these two basic'concepts. We do so,"with the aid of stationary ducts, distributors and other simple equipment units, the necessaryarrangementbf which will appear from the following description. 7

In the drawing Fig. l'is a diagrammaticplan view 'of a preferredembodiment' of our invention. Figs. 2 and "3' are verticarsections thereof, taken alo'nglines 22 and 3-3 respectively. Fig.j 4 is ap'artial"diagrammatic plan viewof *a modified embodiment and Fig.5 is a vertical section thereof, taken along lines 5-5. Fig. 6 isan enlarged detail from l ligi2.

Referri ng first to Figs. 1, '2, '3 and 6, *the -apparatus consi'sts of a treatment tank I 0, a separate pum feedj'a'nd control building H adjacentthe tank, and -intercon-necting duct means l2. Practically all :ofthe treatment 'takes' place intank I0; however, all movin'g' equipment -and auxiliary treatment devices are located "in the building l I This building will usua ly'be covered andheate'd by means not-shown. 'Being -separate from the treatment-tank, the building a'n be constructed and equipped while the tank is being built,rather than subsequently. This feature is one ofthosetending to make the present upflow clarifier plant particularly economical. Our basic arrangement also eliminates cost elements such as-the expensive superstructure of tanks previously used for similar purposes.

The treatment tank [0 is shown as substanti ally square, this form being most economical, It can also'be described as generally rectangular. It comprises a substantially flat and horizontal bottom l3, two end walls l4 upstanding from the end portions of this bottom and two side walls i5 upstanding from the side portions of this bottom. In some instances the tankis roofed over by well 'known means'not shown. It is usually unheated, as distinguished from the building ll;-any roof provided for the tank can be quite independent from this-building. "In th-is respect our present construction is more economical than that of our earlier Patent No. 2,465,930.

-We provide a plurality of slurry distributor duets t6 extending 'in lower parts of the tank 10, for instance along the two side walls '15. These distributors serveto discharge slurry into the substantially horizontal solids contact zone H which is formed thereby" in the lower part of the tank. Circul-ating'slurry is withdrawn fromthis zone by at least one slurry collector duct H! extending in the lower part ofthe tank. "In the preferred embodiment illustrated we use two distributorsand one collector, these three ducts being parallel with one another and dividing the square tank into two generally rectangular zones which-are about twiceas long as wide. 'Thethree ducts,'which are stationary, are the only equip-' ment installed in our-tank I13. No moving equipment -is located in'this tank, which accordingly can be built with-"the. simplest and most economical construction methods. Even corner 'fills'or ridges'of concrete,-which are found in some tanks of this kind, are unnecessary; in fact undesirable, for reasons which will be pointed out hereinafter.

The "general direction of slurry flow in the sol-ids zone I! is parallel with the' end walls 14, as-shown'by-arrow -!9. 'Accordingly the'slurry takes' the-shortest possible path through the area of the solidscontact zone l1, during'eachpassagethrough the tank, this'path being approximately half-as 'longas the end wall [4. We have found it possible to make such a path about 20 to 30ft. long and still to maintain proper distribution. Thus it will'be seen that the total number ofducts can usually be'quite small.

Inorder to providethe slurryfiows l9 we use a slurry pump 20 located in the separate building I I. The discharge of the pump 20 communicates with the two distributors I6 by discharge ducts or pipes 2| while the suction of the pump 20 communicates with the single collector I8 by a suction duct or pipe 22. The pump impeller may consist of an air lift device 23 or any mechanical equivalent thereof. Air lifts are often preferred over centrifugal or axial flow impellers. They are most economical, mainly when a plurality of treatment systems is provided with air by a single compressor or blower (not shown). Furthermore, air lifts require no moving equipment in poorly accessible locations. They facilitate the precipitation of certain calcium, magnesium and iron compounds, counteract septicity, allow easy adjustment of slurry circulating velocities and promote the general efilciency of operation and maintenance in other respects. They tend to saturate the water with oxygen, removing most if not all of the carbon dioxide present or formed, whereby corrosive tendencies of the water are generally reduced and often eliminated. The hydraulic efiiciency. of an air lift may be relatively low, but this drawback is usually far outweighed by the advantages mentioned.

The ducts I6 and I8 are preferably formed by inclined walls 24 extending through the tank I adjacent and closely above the surface of the bottom I3 and arranged in inverted V form as shown. Such an inverted V is formed by the walls 24 alone in the case of the collector I8 and by the walls I5, 24 in the case of the two distributors I6. The ducts taper in width, height and cross-sectional area from the end wall I4 adjacent the building II to the opposite or far end wall. This tapering design is used in order to maintain a uniform slurry flow velocity inthe ducts, while the amount of slurry flowing therein decreases toward the far'end wall, the ducts being in communication with the solids contact zone I'I by apertures 25 spaced or extending along the ducts. A uniform fiow velocityin the ducts is desirable in order to avoid the local settling out of slurry solids due to insufiicient velocity and the local imposition'of excessive turbulence, slurry comminution and hydraulic resistance due to excessive Velocity. v i A rectangular solids contact basin with a plurality of slurry collector ducts therein is known from the work of Archbutt and Deeley, as described for instance in their English Patent No. 19,829/92. Our arrangement differs by adding substantially parallel distributor ducts, and spe- 4 cific-a-lly by adding a plurality of such distributor ducts to every collector duct. This latter feature is also one of the distinctions between our arrangement and the relatively recent design of the Hughes Patent No. 2,245,587. This applies regardless of the form of our tank, which as mentioned can be made rectangular or otherwise. Even if it ismade circular, as the tank of Hughes, it differs in arrangement. Our invention is based, in part, on the discovery that the hydraulic balance in theslurry circulation and the treatment conditions resulting therefrom are greatly improved by the useof a plurality of distributor ducts for every one collector duct, the ducts being of equal length and cross-sectional area as described. 1

The water of the liquid treated in tank I0 flows with the sludge blanket material formed in the solids contact zone I1 and recirculated into the solids contact zone. The water then flows upwards through the slurry blanket. It is up wardly withdrawn as a clarified overflow into suitable outlet launders 26 in the upper part of the tank. In the treatment the previously formed, suspended particles of slurry provide contacts solids or nuclei of precipitation or coagulation, as the treatment reagents react with the impurities or admixtures of the water. Large. dense and relatively uniform solid particles are formed in this manner. Such particles are kept in suspension by the practically uniform flow velocities prevailing in the slurry flow I 9 through the solids contact zone I1. They are, however, not suspended with sufficient force to reach the liquid level in the tank; the flows I9 being limited to the lowermost zone of the tank.

Excess solids, also called sludge or mud, are withdrawn from the underflow which comprises the slurry circulation I9 through the solids contact zone. For reasons of economy and maintenance we have found it preferable to locate all means to this end in the separate building II. We incorporate or install a slurry concentrator tank 2'! in this building, and conduct the slurry circulation through the concentrator. The concentrator can be quite small. It is not expected to separate the circulating slurry into sludge and practically clear liquid. It only has to abstract a relatively minor part of the solids from the circulating slurry, as is well known from the work of Declercq, disclosed for instance, in English Patent No. 5,332 /05.

Being small, the concentrator 21 is easily incorporated in the structure of the building II. It can be rectangular, as shown. The sludge concentrating zone 28 within this concentrator can be separated by an end wall 29 from an equally rectangular pump pit or airlift chamber 30 forming part of the pump 20. The opposite end wall 3| of the concentrator has incorporated in its top part. 32 a launder 33, discharging into the duct 2I which leads to the slurry distributors. Preferably the entire flow of the circulating slurry passes through the top part of the concentrator, being distributed over the area thereof by suitable apertures 34 in the top part of the end wall 29 at the inlet side. Stilling baffies 35 may be installed across the concentrator between the top and bottom thereof. Concentrated, settled sludge is withdrawn from said bottom by a pipe 36, controlled by suitable, well known pump or valve means 36-A which is located in the building II and thus protected from service and maintenance trouble. due to inclement weather and the like.

Theraw liquid to be treated and the treating reagents are added to the slurry circulation, according to principle known'from said Work of Declercq, and preferably byadding them separately to the pump pit 30- through inlet means 31 and 38 respectively. These inlet means are usually equipped 'with'well' known controls, not shown, and are protected from bad weather and the like by being located in the'building II.

The outlet 39 for treated liquid can baconnected'with the overflow launder 26 at' any desired point. This outlet may lead to final treat-' ment or storage units, not-shown, or directly to the point or points of use for the treated liquid.

In the'embodiment of Figs." 4 and 5 we have modified the arrangement in several respects.

We have made the tank IDA and overflow 1aunder 26A quite irregular in plan view. The walls I5A are inclined rather thanvertical. The slurry ducts and intermediate solids contact zone I6A.

HA, vISA are arranged between approximately straight edges I5B of the tank bottom I3A.

Furthermore, we here show only oneslur'ry collector duct I8A and one distributor duct IBA; the distributor, however, being longer. Again, we have in mind the aforementioned hydraulic balance in the circulating slurry flow, and the process conditions resulting therefrom. 'Among these conditions are the slurry velocities in the duct apertures and in .the solids contact zone. It is desirable to make the slurry velocity in the distributor equal, or approximately equal theslurry velocity in the collector, and therefore to use approximately equal velocities in the respective apertures. Nevertheless, it is desirable and even necessary to provide appreciably greater headloss in the discharge outlet of the slurry pump than in the suction inlet.

General principles concerning such velocities and. the process conditions resulting therefrom are known for instance from the aforesaid patents of Archbutt-Deeley and Declercq and from our own prior Patents Nos. 2,353,358, 2,426,804. and 2,444,671. Our present invention, in its general aspect, provides "ducts and apertures suitable to distribute and collect slurry at predetermined spaced locations in a tank of regular or irregular shape. It uses a total cross-sectional area of these ducts and. apertures such as to provide approximately equal velocities of distributioniand collection, but to provide less headless in collection than in distribution. This lesser headloss is provided by a more favorable ratio of wetted perimeter. to cross-sectional'area on the collector side. This again can be produced by fewer, shorter or more favorably shaped collector ducts, as compared with the distributor ducts.

While the two ducts of Figs. 4 and 5 appear as more economical than the three or moreduct's of Figs. 1 and 2, these Figs. 1 and '2 are preferred as to efiiciency of operation, except if the tank of Figs. 4 and 5 is equipped with transverse stilling baiilespnot shown, which tend tomake it more expensive. This is due to the fact that the slurry underflow l9 tends to induce secondary flows through the entire tank. Such secondary flows may be relatively slow but they are 'stilldangerous if the velocity is sufficient to raise local boil-ups of suspended slurry from the top of the sludge blanket to the liquid level. As mentioned before, we prefer not to install corner fills; this is one expedient whereby we counteract excessive secondary flow velocities. Another important expedient consists in the use of different directions for the primary slurry flows l9, as shown; desirably by the use of a'gre'ater number of :slurry distributor ducts. Of course we preferto avoid an excessive number of ducts, for reasons of economy.

Aprbcess condition of prime importance consists in'the velocity of the slurry underfiow l9 through the solids contact zone I I. In the aforementioned Archbutt-Deeley design the slurry underflows have quantities and therefore velocitie's decreasing frrom the inlet end towards the far end of the tank. In the aforementioned Hughes I design the und'er'flows from different apertures cover annular areas of different size and'accordingly have velocities depending largely on the location and on the detail arrangement of the different apertures. We prefer uniform velocities slightly higher than those in the ducts. Such uniform velocities are most easily adjusted to the optimum magnitude; that is to a velocity rapid enough to suspend the slurry solids in the tributor l6 (for instance in feet).

solids contact zone I! but 'slow enough to avoid boil-ups. Therefore we discharge slurry uniformly along the entire length of the distributors I6 or ISA, and equally collect slurry uniformly along the entire length of the collector [8. Thus we obtain parallel slurry fiows iii of uniform velocity over the bottom 13. Of course we are not referring to strict uniformity over every square inch of the bottom, but to substantial uniformity for the purposes in hand. Attention is directed to the fact that our process conditions are equally uniform, over the entire zone 11, as to distribution of treatment reagents.

These principles are believed to be new. Moreover, they provide a new and simplified manner of quantitatively designing the tank and equipment.

Solids contact tanks for municipal water treatment, which are typical and important as examples of apparatus of the present type, are usually designed for a capacity flow rate of'raw water amounting to about two gallons per minute, per square foot of sludge blanket area (2 G. P. M./sq. ft.); with variations of about 50% upwardsand downwards depending on local conditions. Capacity ratings lower than about 1' G. 'P. M./sq. ft. do not require sludge recirculation and suspension and the pertinent equipment while ratings higher than about 3 G. P. lvL/sq. ft. are generally unsafe for typical requirements as to raw and treated water. It is further usual to design such clarifiers for a slurry recirculation amounting to about 300% of the capacity flow of water; again, with a variation of about 50% upwards and downwards.

Our new system provides greater uniformity of slurry flow over the tank area than earlier sludge blanket systems did. Therefore the proper recirculation rates are slightly different. They depend mainly on the width of our sludge blanket zone I1; secondarily on the depth of that zone, which in turn depends on the number of ducts. Therefore We prefer to 'rate our recirculation flows in terms of volume (for instance gallons per minute) divided by the total length of dis- In the treatment under consideration we generally prefer recirculation of about 200 G. P. M. per foot of total distributor length (200 G. P. M./ft.), with upwards and downwards variation of 50%. This is usually less than the recirculation used in slurry tank's known to the art, with resulting savings in power consumption, size of conduits, and pump equipment required.

The preferred cross sectional dimensions of our distributors, collectors and other ducts l6, l8, 2|, 22 are such as to maintain velocities of about 1 to 3 ft. per second in the slurry flow therein.

The ducts and passages of the different embodiments described herein are simple to form with standard methods of tank construction. Moreover, they facilitate the application of simple but effective controls, for normal operation and for the purpose of overcoming starting loads and occasional overloads without undue disturbance of the sludge blanket, or delay in correcting exceptional conditions.

In case of such disturbance it is important, in thepresent method like in allslurry methods, to compensate for disturbing influences promptly and adequately. For instance, if the condition of the raw liquid changes chemically or otherwise it is imperative to make proper compensating changes in the chemical feed, at once, unless there shall be either waste of chemicals, or improper liquid treatment, or both. It is important that such compensating changes should reach the entire treatment zone as rapidly as possible. For instance if raw water has been coagulated and clarified with alum at a pH of 6 and this pH rises to 6.3 it may be most important to correct this new pH throughout the tank, at once, unless poor clarification shall result. Such prompt correction is facilitated by the present design; only seconds are generally required, with an adequate chemical feed system, to feed the new proper mixture through the ducts 2| and uniformly to the entire tank area or solids contact zone 17.

Occasionally an overload occurs for purely physical reasons. Pursuant to a shut-down a starting load must be overcome. This is most efficiently done by passing sludge from pipe 36 into pump pit 30, through a suitable sludge bypass 35-13. Another frequent and serious cause of overloading is connected with the necessity for backwash operations in filters following our treatment tanks. The backwash flow for any one filter unit generally requires several times the amount of waterpreferably pretreated waterthat is normally filtered in such unit. The polluted flow discharged from the filters during the backwash is often too voluminous and rapid to be carried away by the normal sewer system. On the other hand, separate storage of water required for such a backwash or of that discharged therefrom is very expensive. Therefore it is preferable to use the sludge blanket clarifier as a kind of storage tank for this purpose. In doing so, we avoid overloading the treatment tank during the filter backwash, by temporarily reducing the slurr circulation, for instance by proper adjustment of the air lift 23. It should be noted that such adjustment can be effected within the building I l, greatly simplifying the service and maintenance of the system.

Various other modifications can be applied to the apparatus and process described. We claim:

1. Process of liquid treatment comprising the steps of producing a slurry of contact solids; discharging a plurality of spaced, distributed, generally uniform, horizontal flows of such slurry into a solids contact zone, in different directions; passing said fiows through the solids contact zone at substantially uniform velocities; collecting such flows into one fiow; passing the collected fiow into a pump, feed and control zone to pump it back to the solids contact zone; separating the returning fiow into a plurality of flows again; passing the separated flows to the solids contact zone for repeateddischarge; maintaining substantially uniform velocities in the fiows passing to and from the pump, feed and control zone but maintaining a lower headloss in the former than in the latter; feeding liquid to be treated and required treatment reagents into the circulating slurry in the pump,

feed and control zone, whereby additional contact solids are produced; withdrawing liquid upwardly from the solids contact zone; and withdrawing contact solids from the circulating slurry.

2. Process according to claim 1, wherein said flows discharged into the solids contact zone are parallel with one another in each direction while the different directions are opposed to each other; the solids contact zone being generally rectangular.

3QProcess according to claim 1, wherein contact solids are withdrawn from the slurry in said pump, feed and control zone.

4. Process according to claim 3, wherein contact solids with-drawn from the slurry are temporarily returned to said circulating slurry, in said pump, feed and control zone.

5. Apparatus for liquid treatment comprising a horizontal treatment tank with a fiat bottom; a separate pump, feed and control building adjacent the tank; pump means in said building; at least one apertured slurry collector duct extending adjacent the surface of the bottom, communicatingwith the tank and forming part of the suction inlet of the pump; at least one apertured slurry distributor duct similarly extending and communicating and forming part of the discharge outlet of the pump, so that on operation of the pump slurry flows pass from one duct to the other substantially over the entire bottom, and back in a closed cycle; the ducts and apertures being so dimensioned as to provide, incident to such flows, less headloss in the suction inlet than in the discharge outlet; means in said building to feed liquid to be treated and required treatment reagents into said flows; overflow means in the upper part of the tank to withdraw treated liquid; and outlet means for slurry solids, interposed in said flows.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the apertured distributor and collector ducts extend parallel with one another, in the treatment tank.

7. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the outlet means for slurry solids comprises a small concentrator tank in said building, directly adjacent said pump means.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said concentrator tank has a slurry inlet in its upper part, a slurry outlet in its upper part opposite the inlet, a sludge outlet in its lower part, and stilling baffles between said upper and lower parts.

FRANK D. PRAGER;

ROY WELTER. 1

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,128,569 Velz Aug. 30, 1938 2,245,587 Hughes June 17, 1941 2,353,358 Prager July 11, 1944 2,400,598 Prager May 21, 1946 2,419,004 Bieker Apr. 15, 1947 2,426,804 Welter Sept. 2, 1947 2,444,671 Prager July 6, 1948 2,452,991 Butcher Nov. 2, 1948 2,465,980 Prager Mar. 29, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 19,829 Great Britain 1892 1,791 Great Britain 1889 5,332 Great Britain 1905 

